The next update hitting PS4 today unleashes an array of new, exciting features. Let’s start with the stuff every Alienation owner will get free of charge: Weekly Missions! These are missions to be played with unusual rules for an additional challenge — beat them within seven days and you’ll get a reward!

And since we’re talking about rewards, it’s definitely worth mentioning that we heard you loud and clear: you can now loot and collect armors with different modifiers (for example, an armor that recharges your Rush faster, but makes Reload slower), and even customize their colors provided you collect enough of the 42 different paints available…

Other free additions to the game include an extra difficulty level (named “Legend”), six new Trophies, and increased Hero Level cap.

Along with the free content we’re also releasing more paid content: new arsenal, with the secondary weapon Devastator and the heavy Collapser, respectively resembling a sort of deadly laser ray and a cannon with bouncing projectiles, the Armor Paint Pack featuring three exclusive armor paints, and the Veteran Heroes pack (which allows you to start with characters at Level 15 and access to World Level 2).

You’ll be able to purchase the Weapon Pack for $4.99, the Armor Paint Pack for $0.99, and the Veteran Heroes pack for $4.99, or buy each individual item separately. Needless to say, owners of the Alienation Season Pass get all of the above without spending a single extra dime.

So, what are you waiting for? Head to PlayStation Store and grab one right now!

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/08/23/alienation-updated-today-with-weekly-missions-new-weapon-packs-more/feed/15http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/26569343842_98082e869e_z.jpg4.08Community Manager, Housemarque150Alienation: Local Co-op, Leagues, and More Arrive July 5http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/06/28/alienation-local-co-op-leagues-and-more-arrive-july-5/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/06/28/alienation-local-co-op-leagues-and-more-arrive-july-5/#commentsTue, 28 Jun 2016 14:41:27 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=177348At Housemarque we believe that community is king. We read every comment you write and discuss every piece of feedback you send. Your opinions are really important to us, and for all of those that requested the addition of local co-op, I am pleased to let you know that local co-op play will be released to all players as part of the next free update that is scheduled to go live on July 5th!

So gather your friends and family, buy some snacks, and make space for your squad to do battle with the Xenos from the sofa. Local co-op supports up to four players on the same screen, and in classic friendship-breaking fashion, after opening loot crates, you’ll have to fight over who gets the loot!

The new update also introduces Leagues consisting of five ranks with each league cycle lasting for one week. Leagues allow you to climb the ladders of glory and unlock additional bullet colors in the process. In addition to this, after updating the game, you will also find two new difficulty levels called Expert and Master, and a richer Arkship experience with new rooms, harder enemies, and better loot.

For veteran players, there are also more Hero Levels to be gained and a few new Trophies to be hunted down, and lastly we have adjusted details such as Legendary weapons and loot drop rates.

All of these changes will be released entirely for free to all players, but if you’d really like to support us and the further development of Alienation, we hope that you will also pick up either the Season Pass or the Survivor’s Pack, both of which will be available on PlayStation Store on July 5.

The Survivor’s Pack includes the Vortex Grenade, a new piece of gear that sucks all enemies in its path into a kind of black hole, dealing constant damage to all enemies trapped within. In addition to this, all Primary weapons are available to all hero classes, and you will also have three exclusive bullet colors at your disposal to make the game more colorful than ever and allow you to blast the Xenos with a bit more personal style. The Survivor’s Pack will be available to purchase for $5.99.

The Season Pass is also available to buy on July 5 for $9.99. For a single purchase you get the Survivor’s Pack as well as the upcoming Conqueror’s Pack, Veteran Heroes Pack, the original soundtrack, and a dynamic Theme. All at a deeply discounted cost in comparison to buying this content individually.

We will release more details regarding more free content that we will be adding to the game in the future and spill the beans on the Conqueror’s and Veteran Heroes Pack as soon as possible — most likely in the months ahead.

It’s been a long time coming, and now we can’t wait for you to sit down with friends and family to play Alienation together!

Hello Earthlings, Tommaso from Housemarque here. The time to stand up for your planet has finally come! Alienation was announced at GamesCom in 2014, and since then we and Sony XDev have been working hard to make this the best game we ever released together. Alienation is not only a testament to the raw power of PS4, but also an important milestone for the arcade games of the future.

Fans of Dead Nation will find the same ruthless gunfights and the overwhelming tide of enemies they loved to hate in our zombie title — with a boost: there’s no place to hide or escape; only skill and planning can get you out of the carnage in one piece! At the same time, those who appreciate Resogun will be mesmerized by the same familiar brand of total destruction and kinetic neon action our 2013 title is famous for.

And then there’s all the new stuff, propelling Housemarque to new heights and players into a vicious loop of “one more game and then we’ll stop…”

Alienation features three customizable classes, four-player drop-in/drop-out online multiplayer (But you can play solo!), a bunch of game-changing active and passive abilities, loot of various rarity, XP and character leveling, an Invasion mode where you hunt other players down or defend from invaders, configurable weapons and gear, and much more.

Like what, you ask?

We never really mentioned it before, but did you know that Alienation is geared for replayability, offering randomized enemy spawns including stronger alien “bosses,” challenges sprinkled all over the levels, post-campaign procedurally generated levels, alien hideouts to explore, and different “World States” (our own version of New Game+) unlocking new things to do? All this makes the game fresh each time you pick it up, because you can’t just learn enemy patterns, events, and maps by heart; on the contrary, you’ll have to figure out how to face different configurations of obstacles with every playthrough.

It doesn’t end there either, as in typical Housemarque fashion, you’ll compete against others for country XP, Invasion ranking, and best completion times. Expect great things in the months to come, as we plan to support the game steadily. And yes, we heard you loud and clear: local co-op is our number one priority based on popular demand.

Go to the PlayStation Store today and show the Xenos they’ve come to the wrong planet!

Launch Party is our annual celebration of fine digital games (you may remember it by its former name, Spring Fever). Pre-order any (or all) of these games to save 10%. Enjoy!

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/04/26/defend-earth-in-alienation-out-today-on-ps4/feed/33http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/alienation.jpg4.34Community Manager, Housemarque330New Alienation Details: Upgrade and Loot Systems Revealedhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/04/13/new-alienation-details-upgrade-and-loot-systems-revealed/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/04/13/new-alienation-details-upgrade-and-loot-systems-revealed/#commentsWed, 13 Apr 2016 15:01:10 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=172669Hi there, Tommaso from Housemarque speaking. It’s about time we shed some light on a few aspects of Alienation that have been shrouded in mystery up to now. Today’s the day we take a look at what we call Alienation’s metagame!

Two things that set our latest effort apart from the previous games we made are the loot system and the way weapons work. For those of you familiar with Dead Nation, this is quite a departure. In our zombie shooter, players could buy and upgrade a specific set of weapons between stages. In Alienation, weapons and loot are either found in boxes or dropped by enemies after they’ve been killed.This means that when you proceed with missions, you’ll have the chance to obtain rarer weapons or upgrade your weapons’ stats to match your playstyle.

I’ll give you some numbers (we all like numbers, right?): The game features four different types of Alien Cores, each upgradable up to five times and activating a different effect when set in one of the weapon slots. For example, Red Cores augment damage, while Yellow Cores modify the clip size of the weapon. Carefully planning where to put the Cores you collect during missions is a vital part of progressing in Alienation, as specific combinations can even add additional bonuses.

On top of that, loot includes metals of different rarities from “Stock” to “Legendary.” Collecting these metals allow you to “reroll” some stats of the weapon you use them on, improving your chances for the next shooting session.

Last but not least, some weapons enjoy special perks, activated when Cores are mounted in a specific pattern. For example, these perks can add the chance of a lightning chain between enemies when bullets hit them and certain conditions are met.

The idea behind all this is to get players to invest in their weapons of choice and carefully plan their arsenal before jumping into the fight — we feel that the system adds a lot of replayability and believe you will love it. Head to PlayStation Store today so you don’t miss out on the exclusive pre-order bonus!

It’s that jolly time of the year, when the whole family gathers around the fireplace, fibrillating in anticipation of the long-awaited unwrapping ceremony, with the secret hope of finding a majestic PS4 (or better yet, a majestic PS4 AND a Playstation Plus subscription) instead of a boring wool sweater. Why, you ask? Because Resogun, that’s why!

Jokes aside, we really wanted to wish you a Happy Holidays on behalf of the whole Housemarque team! These first few weeks after the Resogun launch have been absolutely amazing for everyone involved with the project. Game ratings have been excellent, and the reaction from fans has been heartwarming, to say the least. Not a day goes by without us receiving congratulatory emails, Tweets, and tons of community love.

We love to watch Resogun fans interact. With such multilayered play, it’s great to see healthy and collaborative online discussions on the best strategies to approach our game. If you feel like you could use some tips, make sure to visit our Facebook page, where we share some hints and tips to help you improve your leaderboard standings every day.

As a company, Housemarque has been around since 1995. To this day, we always managed to make the kind of games we love to play. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but as they say, success is so much sweeter when it’s not just handed to you. The fact that there’s a lot of you out there sharing our same passion is pretty much the coolest thing ever, so thank again you for that.

Do take some well deserved time off, enjoy the festivities, and refine your Resogun skills. You’re gonna need ’em sharp in 2014, as the competition is gonna be fierce. Also, make sure to try some of the other PS4 games. There’s a lot of talented dev teams out there that deserve your time and attention — and if you’re lucky, you might see us out there playing, too.

With that, we bid you all a Merry Holiday Season.

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/12/23/happy-holidays-from-housemarque/feed/20http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/housemarqueholiday.jpg4.32Community Manager, Housemarque200Furmins Rolls to PS Vita December 17thhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/12/11/furmins-rolls-to-ps-vita-december-17th/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/12/11/furmins-rolls-to-ps-vita-december-17th/#commentsWed, 11 Dec 2013 16:01:20 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=122292Housemarque and Alexey Menshikov from Beatshapers speaking. After a minor Q&A setbacks caused by a prank our little furry friends conjured up, we are finally able to confirm the North American release of Furmins on PS Vita!]]>Hi there, Tommaso De Benetti from Housemarque and Alexey Menshikov from Beatshapers speaking. After a minor Q&A setbacks caused by a prank our little furry friends conjured up, we are finally able to confirm the North American release of Furmins on PS Vita!

In Furmins, players will attempt to guide the eponymous and loveable creatures across fiendishly designed levels by rearranging a variety of items in real time with well-coordinated precision. Strategically placed items create pathways and physical chain reactions that guide the Furmins to a basket at the end of the level.

Wondering what happened to the Furmins Kingdom to justify a whole gaming adventure? Here’s a quick overview:

The Furmins are a happy race of creatures living a happy, peaceful existence.

Things were rolling along great until the fateful day their benevolent (yet rather large)…

… King fell asleep, rolled over a river forming an impromptu dam and blocked their flow of water!

When it comes to puzzle games, levels are what make (or break) a title. This holds true in Furmins, too. The ultimate judges will – as always – be players around the world, but we are confident in the 100+ unique levels included in the game.

Solving each puzzle is a two-step process. First, players enter Setup mode, where they strategically place items and contraptions to create safe pathways while the world stands still.

There are plenty of items the player can place around levels: small and large bumpers, flippers, conveyor belts, rotating gadgets, blocks of ice, ropes and vines, cannons and even vehicles!

The second phase is called Action mode, where the stage comes to life while physics take over. During this phase, players can interact with certain contraptions (using PS Vita’s touchscreen or rear touch pad) and help the Furmins reach their destination unharmed.

Switching between modes at any moment will let you test various ideas quickly, until a solution is found. Each level has multiple solutions, so be creative and use items in unusual ways!

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/12/11/furmins-rolls-to-ps-vita-december-17th/feed/25http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/furmin.jpg4Community Manager, Housemarque255Resogun Out Now on PS4http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/15/resogun-out-now-on-ps4/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/15/resogun-out-now-on-ps4/#commentsFri, 15 Nov 2013 14:30:29 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=121015RESOGUN and PS4 in North America, I am delighted to to share yet more details about the game, from the team at Housemarque, and of course, some more great explosions!]]>To celebrate the official release of RESOGUN and PS4 in North America, I am delighted to to share yet more details about the game, from the team at Housemarque, and of course, some more great explosions!

I know a lot of readers skip right ahead to the videos, but I am going to start with a piece of concept art, depicting a whole bunch of initial enemy designs.

A few of these may not have made the cut for the final game but most of them lie in wait for you to blast them to pieces.

Did I mention blasting? Ok, it’s definitely time for some explosions then and the most epic RESOGUN video yet!

The best thing about RESOGUN of course is that the gameplay is just as epic as the explosions and so the last video I will share here today is all about the gameplay.

RESOGUN has lots of subtle tricks to master in order to achieve the best score possible and as you can see in the video, it’s possible to play with a lot of style that is sure to amaze people watching over your shoulder.

RESOGUN is a truly mesmerizing experience but I want to keep this update short and sweet, leaving you with more time to play the game.

Thank you for reading and watching — we look forward to seeing you on the leaderboards soon.

We will reveal some expert gameplay tips to coincide with the European launch at the end of November, so check back in a couple weeks for these, and please check us out on Facebook.